Worthy Core

When the Valleylander party arrived at Worthy Dungeon's front door, it was already a few hours into the afternoon. Yet, they were still the first party to take a crack at the dungeon so far today. Word had spread around the camp that the Valleylanders were finally going to crack, or at least scout the mysterious third floor, and so the remaining Initiates were waiting to see what the soldiers would make of it. Not that Tossrock was particularly inclined to give away free intelligence to the Challengers, but if his party never returned from this visit that would certainly tell the Challengers something about the place regardless. Still, despite the odd stories going around about the new dungeon the minotaur felt rather confident in their chances, and in fact his biggest concern for the moment was the one right in front of him.

"Greetings, guardian of Worthy Dungeon. We come seeking to challenge your hazards." As he speaks, Tossrock taps the base of his staff against the ground, if staff was even the technically correct term for the weapon. Made of magically-hardened granite and topped with a heavy stone block, the tool could easily be taken for an oddly-shaped warhammer at first glance. Certainly, it had caved in the skulls of more than a few monsters and mortals over the years, and he certainly wouldn't rule out that it would happen again today. For now though at least, the difficulty the man faced was one of polite conversation.

"Welcome, adventurers! I see you're all - hold on now, just what in the world is that!?" Doorman's eyes widen as he looks over the group, and Tossrock looks behind himself in a bit of confusion.

"What is what, guardian?"

"That tiny, hairy little child you've brought with you! I need to remind you, children are strictly forbidden from entry into Worthy Dungeon."

Before Tossrock can respond, Tinsel does it for him. "Hey! What the hells!? I'm not a kid! I'm 24! Mousekin are just short, okay!?"

Doorman gasps in response. "Oh my gods, that squeaky little voice! And that angry little face! Is this what beastkin look like, because wow, she is adorable."

Before Tinsel can tell the door what she thinks of that description, Tossrock waves at her for silence. "We...thank you for the complement, guardian. Now, we are prepared for your riddle."

"Oh, yes, of course. Now tell me...who's the most adorable little mouse girl? Who's adorable?"

The group turns to look at Tinsel, who hesitantly answers the question. "...Is...is it me? I'm adorable?"

"Yes you are! Yes you are! Congratulations, you have passed my riddle! Happy challenging...I wish you luck inside."

The first floor went extremely smoothly for the party, aside from the continual griping about patronizing doors coming from one notably adorable corner of it. The Bone Maze was defeated particularly trivially after Tossrock simply sealed shut the ceiling's arrowslits, neutering more than half of the chamber's monsters without a fight. BB did put up a bit of a fight before going down, causing no end of grief to the party's ranged members before they managed to start landing hits, yet he never managed to land a single one of his own. When trying to attack the larger members of the party Mesht was there to block him, and on the occasions where he leapt for Tinsel the mousegirl was actually nimble enough to avoid him all on her own. After Kalasha finally scored a hit, further crossbow bolts, ice bolts, and stone traps eventually managed to wear the boss down to his defeat.

The infamous elevator of Floor Two following the monstrous rabbit proved a curiosity, but Tossrock had to agree with the general impression that had been going around the Challengers camp: anyone who could get past the Floor One boss at its current tier would find the platform's ambushes easy by comparison. Regardless, he was aware that it was the second floor's boss that posed the true threat, and so he made sure to issue another warning before the party exited the platform. "Now, remember. We are about to face a sapient-intelligent slime mage, unusually competent with Domain elementalist magics. Do not trigger the challenge mode, perhaps we might on another run, but today our goal is to breach the third floor. Understood?"

As the party responds affirmatively, Tossrock nods for Mesht to lead the way. Everyone's eyes turned to the ceiling, the slime's proclivities towards ambushes from above now being common knowledge among the camp residents, but as luck would have it today the ambush came from another direction. It was only after the entire group had entered the chamber that Tanno, the Cleric of Frost shouted out from the formation's rear. "Gah! My leg - I think it was hiding in one of the pools! It's - hrng!"

As the party quickly turns around, they note with some alarm that the minotaur cleric is grabbing at his robes and other clothing, fabric which bulges before their eyes in a rather unseemly fashion. Growling out an order, Tossrock motions for the group to spread out. "Cleric! Strip off your garments, your safety is more important than your pride! We cannot strike at it like this!"

Kalasha chuckles. "Stay calm, Tanno. It's a common slime trick, I doubt it can eat a side of beef so massive as you. We'll have it peeled off in no time."

Shaking his head, Tossrock's voice grows more urgent. "No, did you forget already? This is no common - " He's interrupted when his point is made as the cleric suddenly bursts into flames - the fire starting from beneath his light armor. Tossrock's about to step forward and begin stripping the cleric himself before Tanno shouts out a cry of his own.

"Lisst! I call upon your blessing, grant me a core of frost!" As he speaks the words the minotaur's fur turns a frost-tipped white, and even his eyes become glazed over. The flames do die out, at the disturbing expense of making the minotaur look as if he's become a mobile, frozen cadaver. Despite his appearance he grins, but it's a short-lived relief as a woman's voice speaks up from somewhere on his back.

"Oooh, an elemental cleric, huh? How about we try this one, then!" The statement is punctuated by the crackling sound of electricity, and though the minotaur cries out, attempting to endure it, the electrification doesn't seem to end. Tossrock attempts to lay a hand on the man anyhow, but finds himself unable to stop his arm from jolting away at the contact. So it is that a few moments later, as the party watches on in horror, the cleric's now-sizzling corpse falls to the ground. The bulge in his robes continues to move despite this, and eventually a blobby face pokes its way out of the dead man's collar. "Whoo, that really took it out of me. Maybe I shoulda started with the orcs?"

"Bastard! You'll pay for that!" Kalasha raises her crossbow and fires off a bolt, but it hits nothing other than the body of the fallen minotaur, the slime already on the move. Not stopping to reform a humanoid shape, the red puddle glides its way across the floor, dodging the short stone walls Tossrock summons out of the floor before it. Not that they were designed to hit the slime, merely to herd it, successfully directing the lethal puddle in Mesht's direction. Unfortunately the Vanguard has little with which to combat the slime when it arrives, smashing it with his shield to little effect other than slowing the boss monster down, and only briefly at that. Rather than counter-attacking the heavily-armed orc the puddle simply slips between his legs, heading towards an easier target.

"Ah! It's after me! All good, though!" Tinsel's voice almost chirps as she hops her way through the room, moving backwards as Tossrock continues to throw up stony obstacles in front of the slime. The boss is adaptable though, finding its way around, over, and between walls and spikes on its way towards its target. Only to arrive too late. "Ah, this one should do the trick!" Pulling a potion bottle containing a cloudy mixture from her armor, the mousekin throws it down at the boss, smashing it on the rocks just ahead of the slime. As the chemical mixture soaks into the monster its membrane begins to bubble, and the slime barely has time to reform a head and shout before an internal explosion splatters it across a quarter of the room - including Tinsel, who only laughs at the mess. "Hahahaha! Score one for Tinsel!"

After a brief moment of watchfulness to ensure the monster is truly dead, the party first moves to check on their fallen cleric before offering any congratulations. With a lowered voice, Tossrock confirms what they all suspected. "No pulse...from the marks of blood, I wouldn't be surprised if his heart wasn't merely stopped but destroyed by that attack. There's nothing we can do for him now. Go in the arms of your goddess, Tanno Longpull." There's a moment of silence after that, first broken by Kalasha.

"That...the stories were true, that was no normal dungeon slime, not even a boss. Faster than a mortal slime, but with the magical powers of a trained Mage. Does this confirm the reports then, that this dungeon recruits its slain into servants, at the fullness of their strength?"

Tossrock shakes his head. "That was just one of the theories, and I do not believe it to be correct - or at least not the full story. The first floor boss was almost certainly ensouled but clearly not with the intelligence of a Challenger. And at this point the dungeon has claimed enough lives to fill entire chambers with slain Challengers, if that were an option it had available to it. More information is still required." Standing up, he turns towards the party's smallest member. "Well done on your kill, Sapper Hansliss. What was that weapon you used there? I'm not very familiar with alchemy."

Tinsel grins. "Special thing I put together after all that talk about a badass slime boss. Slimes are super-acidic, and people always think about acids when they think about, y'know, super-corrosive shit. Everybody forgets about the bases! Those will fuck you up too, and if you mix em together...well, you saw how that went."

The leader nods along. "I'll take your word on that." Eyeing the safe room ahead and its emergency portal out, Tossrock sighs. "Forging ahead without a healer is risky, but the next batch of trainees isn't due to arrive for another two or three days. We must be cautious, but we must at least attempt the third floor, if only to scout it for the next intrusion. I'm sure I don't need to remind everyone to be particularly careful, however. While you have all been deeper than three floors in a dungeon before, none of you have ever had to face an unscouted floor. We must assume it will be all the deadlier for it."

Mesht takes a deep breath before asking a respectful question. "It's a risk, but one floor should be doable. But...what about Tanno, sir?"

"We cannot take him with us, nor can a body be sent through a portal alone. We shall collect his potions and any personal items, but I'm afraid we must leave his remains to the dungeon. While distasteful, sometimes a dungeon must be allowed its due." The party goes a bit silent at that, but none disagree. Not wanting to linger on the moment too long, the minotaur urges them forward. "Onward, party. See to the chest and heal from the fountain ahead if you need it. It's time for someone to finally lay eyes on the third floor of this cursed place."

As the party moves ahead, Xenia watches them go with narrowed eyes. "Hmm, don't like that, Guy, I think they're on to us. Do you think we should have been telling Lollyp to play dumber, maybe?"

Guy wobbles negatively. "Even if we had her physically seal her mouth shut, the magic would have likely given her away eventually, and we certainly couldn't handicap her so much as to tell her not to use it. Of course, if we're worried about our secrets, we could always try and ensure that the rest don't leave alive?"

"Maybe." Xenia taps her lips in thought. "...That mousegirl is pretty fuckin' adorable though, I can barely even get mad at her for blowing up Lollyp. Even for an achievement I'd feel at least a lil bad doing her in. We'll leave it up to fate, I guess. Are the residents out of the way?"

"Beatrice and Slooshy are currently in their apartment, ma'am. Sincere was down in your core chamber examining the link to the dead dungeon, however."

"Hmm, dang. Well, won't be an issue if they don't get that far..."